Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a 1989 movie directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Denholm Elliott, Julian Glover, Alison Doody, River Phoenix and John Rhys-Davies. It is the third, and currently final, installment of the Indiana Jones movies.

When Dr. Henry Jones, Sr. (played by Sean Connery) vanishes while pursuing a life-long search for the Holy Grail, Indiana must retrace his father's steps in the hopes of rescuing him — and the Grail — from the clutches of the Nazi military machine.

Overview

This installment in the Indiana Jones series has more humor than the previous two films. The humor is mainly shown through the relationship between Indiana and his father. Also Marcus Brody is a less serious character than his previous appearance in Raiders of the Lost Ark, being described as a museum curator who "once got lost in his own museum". The lightheartedness of the movie especially contrasts to its predecessor Temple of Doom, which is usually cited as the "darkest" in the trilogy.

In 1989, Lucasfilm Games released both a graphical adventure game and an action game of the same name based on the film.

Last Crusade is estimated to have grossed $494,800,000 USD. It was released on laserdisc in 1990. The Indiana Jones movies were released on DVD in October 2003. After producing the three Indiana Jones movies in the 1980s, no further movies have been made as of 2005. Yet there have been persistent rumors of Indiana Jones 4 in that time.

A notable item in the movie is the Grail diary of Henry Jones Sr. In the story it contains important clues that are needed to find and safely obtain the Holy Grail. Some Indiana Jones fans have attempted to create replicas.

Indiana Jones artist Drew Struzan created the film's distinctive artwork. Also like the previous films in the series, the soundtrack was composed by John Williams.

Plot summary

The movie starts in 1912 with Indy (played by River Phoenix) as a Boy Scout in a failed attempt to retrieve the Cross of Coronado from grave robbers. The small adventure inspires his whip, fear of snakes, fedora (and style of dress), and even the scar on his chin. The story then advances to 1938; Indy (Ford), now a grown man, is successful in getting the Cross and donating it to Marcus Brody's (Elliott) museum.

Walter Donovan (Glover) informs Indy that Henry Jones Sr., his father, vanished while searching for the missing half of a clue leading to the Holy Grail, which has the power to grant eternal life. Indy and Marcus travel to Venice to meet Dr. Elsa Schneider (Alison Doody) to follow the footsteps of his father. Inside the library (a converted church) where his father was last seen, Indy discovers the tomb of a knight of the "Last Crusade" which holds information needed to begin the quest for the Grail. Indy encounters a secret society of Grail protectors who tells him that his father is being held in Germany.

In Germany, Indiana finds his father but both find themselves being betrayed by both Schneider and Donovan. Indy discovers that both work for the Nazis and that his father's kidnapping was staged to get him to solve the mystery of the Grail for them. Indy and his father escape the Nazis and go to Berlin, to retrieve his father's Grail diary needed to complete the quest. Meanwhile, the Nazis capture Brody and learn where to start the Grail quest.

Donovan and Schneider, with Brody, begin the Grail quest as does Indy with his father and Sallah. But on their trail is a fanatical religious cult determined to protect the Holy Grail at all costs. Eventually, their individual quests cross paths and lead to a confrontation where Kazim, the cult leader, is killed by Donovan's men and a desert chase that reunites Indy and his father with Brody and Sallah.

The quest reaches its climax at the Canyon of the Crescent Moon, in Hatay near Iskenderun, where the Holy Temple (secret home to the Grail) is located. Donovan captures Indy in the temple and shoots Indy's father, forcing him to face a set of challenges and retrieve the Grail for its healing powers to save his father's life. Indy, guided by his father's diary, surpasses the challenges, arriving in a room with Holy Grail hidden amongst many false grails and a knight of the last Crusade surviving by the Grail's power. Donovan and Schneider immediately follow Indy. Schneider then picks out a golden, bejeweled grail which Donovan drinks from. The grail was a false one and Donovan is killed.

Indy picks the true Grail, but the knight commands him not to let the Grail go "past the Great Seal", as it is the boundary of immortality. Indy takes the Grail with the holy water and heals his father. Schneider then tries to leave with the Grail and crosses the Great Seal. As the knight warned, the building collapses and she loses her balance at the edge of a crevasse. Indy tries to save her, but she falls into the abyss while trying to recover the Grail. Then Indy attempts to get the Grail, but his father tells him to "let it go", thus the Grail is never recovered as the heroes escape the crumbling Holy Temple. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ends with Henry Sr. revealing that "Indiana" was the family dog's name; Indy, his father, Sallah, and Marcus ride off into the sunset.

External links

• Official Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade site